The dark side of Koh Phangan

As with most places in Thailand, especially heavy tourist areas, there is hardly any organized system for trash collection. Koh phangan is no exception. It is sad to see such a beautiful and remote paradise ruined by trash and broken glass bottles. The tourism industry is the only industry on the island as 90% of the island is inhabitable and unreachable due to such thick and steep terrain. The impact of travelers is a double edged sword, as it fuels the economy buy also destroys the natural beauty. This lawless anything goes island leaves people broken scraped, burned, tattooed but with great pictures and stories to share. As there is no proper place to dispose of common trash; bottles, paper, wrappers, travelers are forced to simply throw it on the ground. The beach most affected is Haad Rin, site of the full moon parties, by the end of the night the beach is littered with bottles and rubbish.

Scooters are the most popular method of transportation through the island, and they are cheap to rent. With no drinking and driving laws, scooter accidents are the most popular form of injury aswell. All over you see people with bandages, crutches and slings, limping and hobbling around. They say in the past 2 years there has been an increase in health clinics from 2 to over 25. That's one opening up each month. I questioned why they don't do something about all the scooter accidents and allowance of glass on the beach. The simplest responce was that if people don't get hurt, they don't need to go to the clinics and the doctors don't get paid...

It gets even more F**ed up...
Transportation throughout the island is run by a local mafia. Especially with the boats, they set the price and keep it high. They control who goes where on the island.

There is no water sanitation or waste treatment facilities. I assume sewage is pumped deep into the ground. My reason for this is if you dig deeper than 16" into the sand on haad rin beach you do not get a pleasant smell.

It's almost 1.5x more expensive to leave the island than it is to get there. With 5 day minimums on a lot of the places, and a limited number of boats, you are sure to stay a while.

Please don't get me wrong though. Koh phangan is a beautiful island with lots of remote beaches and natural beauty. The negativity is primarly focued on Haad Rin beach and the heay impact of the full moon parties. Overall the community is friendly, down to earth and chill. Its understandable the desire for more money as they just want to improve their lifestyle with the simple luxeroes we take for grated. It's just sad that a lot has to be made from peoples pain and stupidity, but that's just the way it is. The unregulated freedom makes it very attractive to young backpackers and travelers, you just have to watch out for the people that can't handle it and keep your flops on in busy places.

Mike Pennington
mike@rhinoconcessions.com
864-320-2306

www.rhinoconcessions.com

Koh Phangan, Thailand

Saturday, my last day in Bangkok was also the day of the famous "Chatuchak Weekend Market" A place with over 8 thousand vendors, and supposedly the ability to find anything and everything. I arrive at 9:30am, most stores didn't open until 10 but I wanted to establish a systematic route, starting at the top and working my way back and forth. Can't miss anything. Booths lined up side by side and row by row by tight ally ways. Some booths only a 8x8 box. I was excited... After a half hour and covering what I thought was a fair amount of ground, I was left unimpressed. "Where was all the good stuff?" I passed hundreds of women's clothing booths, uninteresting trinkets and a ton of jeans. I pressed on, deeper into the market, going off my strategic path and attempted to get lost in the chaos of retail to hopefully find something good. I ending up finding some pretty cool stuff, but didn't find many of the things I was hoping. I called it a day after lunch time and headed back to the hostel to pack up and check out for my night bus ride to get to Koh Phangan. I went to the local post office with my suits and souvenirs to send home only to find that it would take up to 2 months because of US customs issues. I could ship express (for $175) and it would get there in 3-4 days...pretty ridiculous so I said screw it. I'll backpack with all this crap. I wasn't going to pay half the price of the suits to ship them home.

Matt, buddy from SF, snuck a couple brews on the bus to Koh Phangan to hopefully sleep better on the 8 hour ride. Surprisingly the ride went pretty quick and I got a decent nights sleep thanks to my inflatable neck pillow. After a 2 hour wait at the dock, the high speed catamaran arrives, dropping off travelers and picking up the next load. They put our packs on the bow of the boat, a little nerve racking but we had to trust they knew what they were doing. First stop was Koh Samui, which was a lot bigger than I thought. 45 minutes later we landed on Koh Phangan. Taxi to our beach in the south east part of the island and checked into our hostel, The Dancing Elephant.

Koh Phangan has been an interesting experience. As we did more or less a lot of the same, I'm going to sumarize differnt aspects of life on this crazy island.

Koh Phangan is a small island in the gulf of Thailand and just north of Koh Samui. It is most famous for its legondary Full Moon Parties - Where once a month more than 8 thousand travelers, backpackers, and party goers load Haad Rin beach for a night of partying, debauchery, and endless dancing. The drink of choice is known as "The Bucket." A 5th of liquor, 12oz of soda, a bottle of red bull, poured over ice into a plastic pale you would most likely build a sand castle with. Great to share or just take to the face. Needless to say you dont need a lot. We all know its not a party unless there is fire, and Full Moon is no exception. From fire dancers, jugglers, to limbo and jump roping, the party stays hot and pretty dangerous as many dumb asses get burned. Regardless the music is awesome, the beach is beautiful, the atmosphere is energetic and exciting. Definitely worth the experience.

The Dancing Elephant Hostel, the top rated, and possibly one of the most expensive hostels in the area during the Full Moon Party. It sleeps 19 people... All in one room. There are literary a 10 person bunk bed with 5 mattresses side by side top and bottom. David, the owner sits everyone down and gives them "the talk" a 45 min Full Moon Party 101 crash course of what to do and what not to do, recommended places to go and house rules. Everyone gets the talk. Next to the dancing Elephant is a small open air restaurant named Maddy's, which quickly became the meeting point for all 19 of us. Of the 6 full days I spent on this island, I would say I only ate somewhere else 3 or 4 times. The food was great but took forever, most likely because there were 15-20 of us eating at once. The wait was never that bad, as we entertained our selves with good conversation and connect 4. The community that was established at Maddy's made sleeping next to 18 other people not a big deal. It was pretty cool. We could be anywhere in area, run into someone from the hostel and quickly get reconnected with the group. Going out was fun because we had such a large base we never got tired of a small group. Taking excursions were cheaper because we were able to negotiate a group discount.

"Same Same" is a term you hear almost hourly, usually comparing two products or options - Thais will say "same same" but its really "same same...but different" I have a shirt that says it.

Typical day. Slowly wake up, grab some much needed water and advil, Start to congregate at Maddys and grab a fruit shake and some eggs...Two hours later, after everyone has finally eaten we map out a plan for the day... Some beach...Somewhere. One day we took a truck load of people up to Ao Mae Haad, a beach on the north west corner of the island. Fitting 15 people in one small truck was an interesting challenge. One person had to hang off back by the tailgate. A bumpy but sencic 40 minute ride later we arrived to a remote beach getaway that obviously few people knew about. The beaches were clean and the water felt amazing. 300 yards off shore was a small island you could walk to as the tide went out. We were literally in paradise. We chilled on beach talking, joking and playing games in the sand. The sun was setting on the ride back and it was amazing to see a glimpse atop the steep ocean side mountainous roads then only to plumit back down to sea level. Another long chill dinner we walked down our street to watch a muay thai fight. The fighting was great. It started out with two younger kids about 20 years old but didnt look older than 14. The fighting is a really interesting art and dance as the relentlsly kick and punch the fool out of each other. We go out to the beach to have a good time and eventually call it a night...or morning...wake up and do it again - tough life.

Thats all for now. Again, I'ts been hard to write, even though I have all the time in the world right now, I'ts spent with the people from all over the world... I'll fill in more details later

Boat rides, Tai Chi and one big Buddha

A slow start the next morning. The group finally got together and set out for khoasan road to buy a ticket to kho phangan for the coming weekend. After strolling around and browsing the shops and merch stalls we set off south toward reclining buddah. We arrived after a 40 minute walk to a massive palace looking estate surrounded by 25 ft walls. Admission was 50 Batt ($1.60) and we casually strolled through different buildings, small and large temples, admired beautifully groomed trees and large pyramid type tile structures. In the center of complex is one of the world's largest buddha statues, housing the infamous "Reclining Buddha." This golden statue stands over 100 feet long and 20 feet high, of Buddha laying down. I don't really understand the significance of the immense statue as there were no English translations but it is a beautiful work of art. We strolled around a little longer and headed back to the hostel. Watched a movie "into the wild" saw the group of girls from ucf off and went to my suit fitting. This whole suit process has been kind of shady not to mention very pushy. The jacket felt good though. Good size and length, pants a little tight, so he marked with chalk where to loosen them up and said i could come back the next day at 6pm. I felt more confident I was going to get a good product after the fitting but was still skeptical as to when they were going to try to screw me over. After a quick stroll down khoa San road to gaze at the circus antics I went back to the hostel to call it in early.

The next morning, after a great nights sleep I work up and spent a couple hours catching up on the blog, and organizing photos. It takes a while longer because I am doing everything from my phone. The hostel doesn't have a public computer to use, there is an Internet cafe next door but it's always full of kids playing world of warcraft. I met up with a guy named Matt - A firefighter my age from SF bay area. So we set off bound for the river to take a boat ride.  Passing several sidewalk food markets we grabbed a quick bite and went towards a pier where all the boats were taking off and landing. Not 10 minutes later, the chicken kebob sticks I ate made a not so pleasant rumble in my stomach. I walked into the public restroom to find a challenging sight. No seat, no back or reservoir tank, and of course no tp. Basically an elevated circular porcelain hole with an spicket and a bucket. Man did I wish I was back in Japan. I walked back out to find a lady selling tp for 8 batt and the rest you can probably figure out... The thai food is finally catching up with me. I've just about given up trying to eat gluten free as that really doesn't exist here. I mostly eat from the street carts, picking the cleanest most sanitary one I can find. The food taste great and it's so cheap, usually between 35-70 batt - $1-2.30. I fill up for several hours but with all the walking I've been doing I burn that off pretty quick. They don't seem to eat a whole lot of meat. The only meat I see is on a skewer sold from a cart, and I can't begin to guess how long it's been sitting out uncovered in 85 degree heat. Needless to say it's hard to get solid proteins.

Back on track, Matt and I got upsold on a long boat canal cruise for 600b each -$20. We picked up a couple beers for the ride and boarded this long skinny cigarette looking gun boat. The driver sat perched with a massive engine fully open and exposed to his side with long 10' propeller shaft coming out of the stern. The boat could hold up to 20 people but we were the only ones on it. We took off flying through the choppy river that flows south through the city and eventually dumps onto the gulf of Thailand. We toured a small canal with hundreds of homes right on the water. Passing through what appeared to be the richest of rich and the poorest of poor it was an interesting sight. As the canal opened up there were several floating souvenir boats that paddled up to us offering trinkets, water and beer (Thailand a country of true entrepreneurs).  Once back out in open water the driver gunned it the rest of the way to our destination in the business district (non tourist). We got great pictures of the city sky line from the boat. We took the new sky train - above ground metro, back closer to our hostel. It was great to see a different side of Bangkok than the tourist hustle bustle and grungy dirty old streets in our area.  

We regrouped and assembled a large group of people from the hostel to grab a bite to eat in the classier district we were just in. After dinner we shot up a sky scraper 45 floors to have drinks at a very impressive sky bar. Matt and i had flip flops and shorts - not to dress code but they let us slide since we were literally the only people in the place. One drink cost 375b, I could have eaten 10 times for the same price... Oh well it was a cool experience. We then took cabs back up to khaosan road for some buckets and dancing. We ended up clubbing and dancing until 4am. Everyone but 3 of us called it a night. Re a girl in our group, suggested we stay strong till sunrise and head to the park to watch people do Tai Chi. I didn't really know what it was but I went with it. Found a mellow bar and smoked a delicious apple tasting hookah, ate some fruit, and drank tea until sunrise. The park was packed when we got there. People exercising, running, stretching, group yoga and lots of Tai Chi groups. It was a sight to see. We casually joined a group of about 10 older women in the slow karate type step dance. We went a couple rounds, standing in the back of the group mirroring the ladies in front of us. Each set got faster and more involved as we warmed up. The ladies turned around and clapped for us as they were really happy to see us. And what a sight I'm sure we were, strung out and still wearing the clothes we went out in. They invited us for some tea at a near by bench. We talked for a bit and they said that they all were in their 70s which was amazing because they definitly didn't look it. They said they do Tai Chi every morning. The invited us back out to do more, this time with a traditional asian folding fan. The beat of the music was a lot faster and the steps more complex. Every so often they flicked their wrist to pop out the fans, waved and incorporates it into the dane smooth and rhythmically. The whole experience  was really incredible. After 2 more sets they congratulated us on what a great job we did. We took a group picture and set off to explore the park more. It was amazing how many people were out walking, exercising, or just getting outside to be active. It was very inspiring. After being awake for over 25 hours I was exhausted. I felt bad because I knew going to bed at 9am that much of the day would be wasted. However I justify it by the fact that I got two days of activity packed into one... :)


(I will admit- I didnt take these photos, but I have real ones on my camera)

Tuk tuks, suits, and a whole lotta Buddha

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It's been a lot more difficult to keep up with the blog than I remember, I don't have any down time. And when I do I use it to sleep.

As I was checking into the hotel by the Airport - at midnight, now a 12 hours ahead of east coast, 2 girls and a guy showed up. The girls were from Illinois, finishing up their trip after 3 weeks in Chiangmai volunteering to help rescues elephants. The guy (olivae), not with the girls, was from France and on a 1 year round the world backpacking trip. All with intentions of going into Bangkok the next day we agreed to meet in the morning to share a cab to the train. The hotel, which advertised itself as a hostel, was small, humble, and had a great view of the airport so you could see all the planes taking off and landing, but more or less in the jungle type setting. It was hard to fall asleep initially because of the 1st class nap I had on the plane. I awoke about an hour to this incredibly loud scratching and movement in the the ceiling. I could only assume it was some kind of hybrid rat dog that could smell me and would stop at nothing to claw to get me. This thing sounded huge. I went downstairs and got another room- upgraded to one with a fan! Woke up, had some fruit and tea watching the jumbo 747s take off to go all over the world. All four of us piled in a taxi bound for the train station. First thing i realize is how crazy traffic is. Motorcycles, mopeds, tuk tuks, cabs and trucks all weaving in and out seamlessly with very little room for others' space. Getting to the train station people are more than happy talk to us, ask us where we are from, and try to help us. We were a little reserved, not sure what they wanted. Eventually some people are genially interested and just want to talk to you in what English they know. A ticket for 4 of us, an hour train into then city was 28 batt (thai currency pronounced bot) the conversion rate is $1 to $30 batt, so the train cost less than a quarter each, amazing! The old rickety open air train took us through some pretty slum areas, everything so far a polar opposite to Tokyo - a challenging transition. We decide to walk from the station to see the city. We ended up walking to my hostel, glad I packed light because it was about a 3-4km walk. Couldn't check in until 2, so I dropped off my stuff and headed back out with the girls, the Frenchman set off to find his own hostel. 

I want to diverge and talk about Tuk Tuks. A tuk tuk is a 3 wheeled motorized cart type taxi with no meter. They are open air with a canopy atop and a bench seat with "oh shit" bars for railings. You negotiate the price before you get it. Minimum price is 30B ($1). Tuk tuks are everywhere, weaving in and out of traffic, guys hustling you to get in and take a ride. Taxis are cheaper but you have to be careful they don't take the long way to your destination. Plus tuk tuks are a lot of fun. Tuk tuks play a key role in the interconnected network of scams and hustles- mostly custom made suits, ping pong shows, and body massages. I havnt seen any drugs , crime or felt threatened in any way. They just want to steal your money in a more "honest" way. 

So we take a tuk tuk to the famous Khao San road to check out what it's really about. Khaosan road is a small side street about a kilometer in length, pack with food, bars, retail, and non stop action. You immediately get lost in the busy yet casual glimmer of everything offered. Food, drink, tshirts, CDs, tons of women's clothing, food carts it's hard to take it all in in one lap. The later it gets the busier. 

So after a couple hours just wondering khao San and the side streets, and eventually loosing the girls, a tuk tuk driver asks me if I wanted to see some of the temples and explains that Tuesday is Buddha day and all are free to get in. He says he will have his driver take me around several temples and wait on me, drop me by the thai certified travel agency for any questions and bring me back for 20B, hell of a deal so I go with it. He wizzes me over first to standing Buddha. A 100 foot gold Buddha statue was really cool. A lot of detail was put into the temple. I don't really know much about the temples because there was no English translations anywhere. The next stop was travel agency which answered some questions on how to get to my next destination : koh phangan. The driver says he wants to make a quick stop by a custom suit manufacturer. Said I was not obligated to buy anything-just check it out. Instantly I was greeted by a sharply dressed guy with good English who was "so interested" in me. I was poured a fresh beer proceeded to get the pitch of how all suits are custom and hand made with the finest of materials blah blah blah. Then he asked if I were to get a suit what I would be looking for. Since part of my Christmas present was some money to put toward an nice jacket or suit I decided to show more interest. He pulled out some fabric and draped it over my shoulder to see how it would look- and it looked pretty sharp... Long story short I got upsold, sized and fit for 2 custom made jackets, pants, shirts and ties for $450. Not exactly what I was looking for but what the hell. I
Haggled him down from $900. I went back the next day for a fitting and its going to be a pretty sharp looking suit(s). I just have to figure out how to send them home... So after a couple more beers i was feeling pretty good, trying not to regret the purchase, the tuk tuk driver took me to golden mountain, a golden temple sitting about 300 feet high with an incredibly commanding 360 view of the city.  It was really spectacular.  Afterwards I headed back to check into the hostel, got situated and met some people downstairs in the common room. 4 girls that just graduated from ucf that were traveling for 2 months.  We buddied up with 2 other guys from northern England. A short 15 min walk from the hostel to khoa san we were back in the middle of the madness. Picked up some beers from a 7-11 ( 47b $1.50 for a 64oz- cheapest on the street) place  and walked down the street just gazing, after a lap and a half and a couple more stops back to the 7-11 and got convinced to see a ping pong show. Next thing I know we are piled into 2 tuk tuks racing down the streets to god knows where. Haggled for a group discount and proceeded to get grossed out for the next hour. A quick cab back to khoasan we found a 3rd story bar to dance and drink buckets of rum redbull and coke. You only need 1. After the group got split up, we eventually reconnected back at the hostel to call it a night.

Sumo, karaoke and Bangkok

Getting up at 6 for the second day in a row wasn't as bad as the first. It was a very cold morning on the 20 minute walk to the sumo stadium. It paid off getting to the stadium about an hour and a half early because the line ended up wrapping around the building. So then we had our sumo tickets at 8:05 am, and another whole day to see the city. We got some breakfast in akihibara and walked around until we got hungry again and went for the Turkish Kebob sandwiches again. They are so good. As I was not initially impressed with akihibara, I warmed up to the city the more time I spent there, plus it wasn't as sleezy and touristy as others. A variety of interesting shops, restaurants and bars all packed into several blocks. We traveled south down to Shiodome to have a beer of the 42 floor of a skyscraper with an amazing view of the city. Then back up to see sumo at 2:30. We stopped by a 7-11 to stash some beers and snacks to sneak into the stadium until we saw people bringing whole grocery bags with food and drinks. Completely different stadium concept than in the US. The stadium was really nice and there were about 6-8 thousand people there. I picked up a radio and tuned to an English commentary station which gave me a lot of info. Sumo is interesting, a lot like bull riding. You wait and wait and wait only to see 8 seconds of action. The guys were huge and the action got more exciting as the day progressed. We were lucky that the emperor and empress of Japan attended the tournament.

After sumo I split up with the guys, as they were headed to another hostel. I had intentions of catching up on my blog and pictures and etc until I met a group of people in the common area. We started taking about sumo and other things to do and next thing I know we are headed to get some rotating sushi in akihiabara. After that we walked forever looking for "Nomehodai" all you can drink. Finally found one in a back ally near our hostel. 2 hours of all you can drink for about $15-$20 USD... I don't remember lol. After we were cut off we set out to find one of the famous japanese karaoke bars we kept hearing about. we found one just down the street and got a private room for 2 hours, a dictionary of songs and 2 tambourines. We started off a little weak but after some more drinks we warmed up to it and it was a blast! They had every song ever. We were all really into it. After that I went back to my capsule and crashed

Monday 1/10, was the first day I've had a chance to sleep in in several days. I got cleaned up and got caught up on some things Travel plans, Emails etc. Forecasting the day flight at 5, airport by 3, train to airport at 1:20. Got all packed up and checked out. I sat downstairs to get caught up on some blogging. Shortly after I got started the guys from New Zealand walked and we started talking about the night before of all you can drink and karaoke. We shared pictures and videos we took the night before and decided that we were hungry. A 20 min walk later we were back in Akahibara and I was in line for another turkish kebob sandwich, to fill myself up for the next 12 hours of travel. I start to head back at 12:40, thinking I had plenty of time. As I get to the beginning of my street 1:10, Shit!! So with 10 minutes, run to hostel, grab my pack, double check train directions, run to the subway terminal, down 3 flights of stairs, buy my ticket (1280 yenn $15) down more stairs and escalator, and to the platform, no train, oh no! Was I too late? It's 1:19... 1:20 train flys in. Whew. Doors closed and train started moving before I even had a chance to sit down. That was too close. The train out of the city was very scenic, cool to see the outer city limits. Monday is a holiday, celebrating 20 year olds - the age you become a legal adult. The parks were packed with people playing sports, waking dogs etc. Got the the airport with plenty of time. Waited by the gate, reading my lonely planet and mentally preparing myself for a big culture shock. As they called standbys to get their boarding pass I waited anxiously in line, wondering if I would be in back for the 7 hour flight to Bangkok: 14C... "I don't know where that is" boarding the plane I count the rows with coach coming up close... Last row in business class elite... 14!!! Fully reclined seats in individual pods, personal tv, amazing! I felt bad for everyone that had to walk through first class and see us pampered with champaign and hot towels. Had a good conversation with the guy next to me, newly wed heading out on their honeymoon, also flying standby. Wife was nice to give him first class. Interesting enough we were on the same flight from SF to Tokyo. 
After touchdown (at midnight) and going through customs, I got a cab to my airport hotel for the night.

Fish market and Shibuya

Octopus Shinjuku

4 guys from the hostel and I met down in the lobby to head to the fish market. They were exchange students studying in Singapore, 2 were from Sweden and 2 from Switzerland. We set off down the metro to the south eastern part of the city to the  Tsukiji fish market. The market is crazy, trucks, fork lifts, flat bed carts whizzing by you in every direction. Definitely need your head on the swivel. Walking down the tight narrow alleys of the market there were thousands of different venders selling everything living in the water possible. We saw HUGE tuna, eel, mussels, king crab, 50 differnt types of shrimp; it was amazing. The market was about 10-15 rows with each row about 100 yards in length. The whole time you had to watch out for trucks and carts hustling through every intersection. Tourists are technically not allowed in the market until 9am when all the action dies down. So we walked quickly and stayed out of peoples way. After a down and back we felt we had enough fish so we set off to find some Sushi breakfast. We found an amazing restaurant around the corner. It had a conveyer belt going around the sushi bar. With a variety of options. You just pulled the plate of sushi when it passed by, and each plate was a different color to correspond with different prices. I had at least 9-10 plates ranging from yellow tail, tuna, salmon, crab, octopus, shrimp, barracuda, swordfish, even whale ( I was a little sensitive about eating it but it tasted amazing!). When we were done a lady came by with a device that scans the plates, all with an RFID chip, pretty cool. We checked out and headed back uptown to see what the deal with Sumo was, since a big tournament was staring the next day. We found out we needed to be there early next day to stand in line to get a general admission ticket.
After a little r&r back at the hostel we headed to Shinjuku. Know for it's largest metro station in all Japan. I read over 3 million people pass through the station a day. It was a mad house, people everywhere. We walked around the city for a whole, got a bit to eat and set off to Shibuya, for the famous people crossing intersection. It initially didn't look as big as I thought. Green waking light turns and masses of people darted across the street. We went up into a 3 story starbucks to get a higher prospective and take some pics. There must have been 2 thousand people crossing the street at a time. Crazy. We strolled around Shibuya for a bit, walking past all the shops and department stores then hopped back on the metro towards the hostel. Worn out I fell asleep in the common area and called it a night by ten to catch up on some sleep and get up early for Sumo

First day in Tokyo

I decided to wait a bit before I blogged from the first few days. I've covered a lot of the city the and I needed some time to let it sink in and process... 

First: Japanese people
- the past few days I have really observed the flow and behaviors of the people of Tokyo. In general the people are very obedient of standard rules. For example they won't cross a street on red, even if there isn't a car in sight. They automatically cue into line. When the metro comes they all line up into single file lines, wait for the exiting passengers and file in. It's as if their mind set is "I will file in line so we all can get on this train", whereas Americans is "I will push my way through this mob so I can get on the train." they are very unselfish. They are not as openly sharing as the Argentines but they are very respectful and aware of everyone around them. One of the reasons contributing to this behavior is the lack of distracting devices we so love to use. While walking you will rarely see anyone: eating, drinking, talking on their phone, texting, or reading. Smoking is prohibited in the streets except in designated smoking areas. However smoking is allowed is all restaurants and bars which is ironic. They are solely focused on where they are going, who and what is around them. For the most part slower traffic keeps left, passing on the right, and watch out for bikes. Traffic yields to walking pedestrians with a green crossing light. A lot different from Argentina where you had to watch out all the time.

The biggest thing I have noticed is the extreme time and attention to detail put into everything. They are so organized, planned, prepared and efficient. It's pretty inspiring to see how seamless everything flows, at least from an outsider's prospective, they appear to have it all figured out.

Friday morning, after a good nights sleep, I got ready for the day and went downstairs to see who and what everyones plans were for the day. I asked reception what the recommended for the first day - they said travel north to Asakusa and then west to Nueno, south to Akihabara then back east. Literally making a square. I asked around to see if anyone wanted to join, no takers so I head out. It was recommended  
I take the subway up 2 stops but it looked close enough to walk so I loaded up with water and a snack and headed out. 
 Japan had been very cold (35-40s and windy). So put zipped up my jacket, sunglasses and beanie. First thing in noticed walking along the streets was how much I stood out. No one wears sunglasses or hats of any kind. Keeping my beanie on, I took off the shades so I would look as much of a terrorist. Strolling up the streets was a great way to get a feel for the city, and see how everything flows. 

I followed the masses of people flocking toward a souvenir market and a large temple. At first look I had no clue what was going on. People were pouring water over their hands, drinking, spitting, waving smoke in their face, throwing coins clapping and praying. Didn't understand any of it but I did my best follow by example. Asakusa is a more conventional, historic area of Tokyo. Dozens of very pretty temples, rock gardens, bonsai trees and statutes. After roaming around for an hour I set off to Ueno. Roamed another mile of retail stores, small sushi and noodle places, kiosks until I found a map and got my bearings. Across the street was a McDonalds, with all intentions of avoiding American chain food for a month I felt it was a good spot to escape the cold and plan out the second half of the day. The only open seat was on the 3rd floor (yes a 3 story McDonalds) sucks it was the smoking level. I pulled out my lonely planet and read up on the 3 areas of the day and found a blurb about temple tradition:
First you take the ladle by the fountain- wash your hand and mouth to purify yourself. Approach the temple, donate, clap, prey, and bang the gong. Makes sense. Took a stroll the massive park in Ueno with several museums, wasn't interested and set off to the metro station. On the way I passed a smaller more humble temple. I took a peak in the gate. No one there. It was very pretty so I decided to attempt the sequence of ritual. Purified, pray, gong then lit a spirit stick and waved the smoke over my head and face. The stick had a backwards swastika- meaning peace and love I think. It was pretty spiritual, and being the only person added to the feeling. I slowly strolled through the temple yard paying attention the the small detail and hard work into the trees, bamboo work and rock placement. Very interesting.

Akihabara is known as "electric city" for its edge electronics and gadget devices. I was pretty excited to see it. Walking through the streets I saw a ton of tvs, DVDs, iPhones, computers etc, but nothing I had never seen before. Pretty much a bunch if best buys, radio shacks and AT&T stores for 8 square blocks. Initially was not so impressed with akihibara. Getting pretty hungry I found a street tuck selling Turkish kebob sandwiches. The truck had a huge skewer of spinning meat, cut with a sword. The meat was put into a pita, with graded cabbage, onions sliced tomatoes and your choice of sauce. It was awesome, quick, filling and cheap - only 500 yen  ($6)
I set off back to the hostel... Thinking I was going the right way. After about 10 blocks I asked someone if I was headed in the right direction - nope, compete opposite way. I was at least 20 blocks from the hostel and it was getting dark and cold. The man, his name Yoshi, walked me all the way to the metro, and got me situated with what train I needed to get on to get back.
Very nice of him.

Finally getting back I was wiped out. I would guess I walked between 12 and 15 miles that day. I saw a lot and got a great feel for the city. Met some new friends at the hostel and we ended up going back out to akihibara for dinner, now I know how to get there. Coming back at night was a whole different scene. Dozens of restaurants, shops and lights glittered the streets. We searched for about an hour "Nomehodai" - all you can drink, but never found it. Turning in for the night we made plans to get up early and see the fish market at 6:30am...

Beer vending machines and bidets

Beer vending machines and awesome toilets
One of the best things about this hostel is the beer vending machine. Drop in 270 yenn and you get an ice cold 500ml can of Asahi. The local beer brand. It can get much better than that.

Now for this crazy toilet. It took a while to figure out what this thing actually does...
When you first sit down the seat is comfortably warm. Do your business and wipe as you normally would. Now the cool part is the bidet aspect. You select what kind of "spray" you want. You have a lot of options. You can select the type of spray: narrow, wide and female. Water strength, temperature Etc. And the cool part is when you stand up a sensor releases a quick shot of air freshener. As the toilet refills you can wash your hands. Pretty cool contraption....

On the way to Tokyo

The sleep deprivation finally caught up with me so I ended up getting a hotel in San Bruno, about 8 minutes from the airport. Still with intentions of fining some kind of nightlife action I took a walk around the hotel. Found a humble Irish pub, with about 6 people in it. Had. Beer and was directed to a good late night Mediterranean place. Ate and got a good nights rest. Got to the airport early and ordered an overpriced omelette from a restaurant in the terminal. I te at the bar alongside some guys slamming back beers and mixed drinks. Talked with them a while, they go to college in SF and flying to Miami to celebrate one of their 21st birthdays. Doing it big time.
As I was walking over to to my gate they were announced for all stand by passengers to come up and get their seating assignment: 6A - First Class window!!! I was sooo pumped. I was greeted with champaign, hot towel, pillow, blanket and plenty of leg room. My seat mate was a girl my age: Kyoko, an Asian American from San Francisco. She was flying back to Tokyo after the holidays to continue working for the teach English abroad program. Great conversation. It was hard to sleep on the flight because it was still in the middle of the day for me. I watched a couple movies, listened to music and talked with Kyoto about the similarities and differences between USA and Japan. Approaching the coastline, japan appeared to be pretty flat. Looked to a California type beach, narrow dark sand beaches, hardly anything developed around it though. Lots of baseball fields. We landed at 5pm the next day - a 17 hour time change. Kyoto was a lot of help getting me on the right trains into the city. One of the first things I noticed about Japan is how clean everyhing is. And there are no janitors and hardly any trash cans. Everyone takes responsibility for their own waste... And it works, interesting concept huh? Kyoto says the schools don't have to janitors, the kids are responsible for cleaning the classrooms, floors, bathrooms etc.
The train (mostly like a city metro) from Narita airport into the city was about 1:30 total with 1 transfer, with little to see since it was dark. It was a little nerve racking not sure if I was on the right train or not. I asked- pointing to my destination written on my cell phone, pointing to the train and a thumbs up or down, it was funny. First thing I noticed stepping on the train: EVERYONE was on their cell phones, no conversation at all. Most everyone had headphones on, and starring right into the screens. I would assume some were texting and others playing games or music, but everyone that got onto the train, old and young, pulled out a cell. I felt obligated to follow suit. 

Walking out of the train I followed the mob the exit, merging onto the escalator everyone single file lined up all the way to the left, standing in the middle ("typical American") I remembered transportation is backward from us, so quickly followed suit. As I walked up out onto street level I did the 360 cinematic panoramic gaze at this foreign land. It was pretty much what I imagined: busy streets, bright lights, bustling crowds and Japanese. Quick look at my map and off to the hostel. Walking on the left side of the side walk I continued to gaze at the taxis, bikes, street lights, signals, billboards; taking in all the "flow."
The hostel is really nice. Not the best location for walking action buy the metro is really close. Jet lag finally caught up so I grabbed some food from a connivence store around the corner, and chilled at the hostel with some other people staying here.

Overcoming travel adversity

Monday was an interesting day. Got all my last minute errands done, bag packed, bank, AAA, Int drivers license (just in case), hostels booked, agenda starting to take shape so I was feeling more at ease... Until I get a call at 9pm from my chief itinerary manager (Zander) saying that my LA to Tokyo flight was booked and I wouldn't get a seat (since I'm flying standby). So we worked on different strategies to get me to Tokyo for about an hour. We ended up with GVL to ATL to JFK to SFO to Tokyo. This could be done in 2 days if everything went perfect. Now to the next challenge: Tokyo to Bangkok... Originally I was only going to stay 1 day. That flight is booked until Monday the 10th, looks like I'll be in Tokyo for a while now. So not to add any more stress and anxiety... I'll be in the most populous city in the world for 5 days. A city I had not planned on nor know really anything about. I had to cancel all my prior hostel bookings and luckily booked what looks to be a pretty good hostel in Tokyo. With very little peace of mind I headed to see my mom late at night before I left then to my dad's who dropped me off at the airport. I gave Janell (who is traveling to Costa Rica) some last minute travel advice and packing tips, and attempted to go to sleep around 2am.
With a little more than 2 hours to sleep, restless with travel anxiety, worry that my alarm clock has the iPhone glitch app, and the fear of the unknown, the adrenaline starts to kick in as soon as the alarm goes off. Game Time!
Get to the airport late (5:45am) as the plane is boarding, TSA feels it necessary to confiscate my face wash, sunscreen and tooth paste, oh well. I get on the first flight to Atl.
Soon after take off, I looked out into the darkness to find a beautiful sun about to rise over Greenville - , a dull yellowish orange sky split a dark city poked with small dots of light and a royal navy blue starry galaxy. It was really really cool.
Approaching Atlanta after we had out run the sunrise, it was a sight to see all the traffic from above. Highways glowing like arteries pumping life into the awakening city.
The Atl to JFK flight was packed! I was lucky to get on, I think there were only 4 or 5 people behind me until every seat was filled. Had a middle seat between an older man who didn't speak a lick of English and a younger girl on her way to Israel who was not much for small talk. 1.5 hours later we arrive. The airport was smaller than I envisioned. A cool thing about some of the gates were dozens of iPads set up to be used to surf the web, play games or order food. I found a brookstone and put in a good 30 minutes in this awesome back and foot massager, then went back to play with the iPads... Airports can only be so fun, not to mention how impossible it is to sleep in them. I almost think they design seating so you can't.
So I sat waiting at JFK on the 3:15 flight to San Fran. Looking at my standby priority keep dropping. It started at 4, then 7 and peaked at 10 I think. It was pretty disheartening to see that there were only 3 open seat at the time. I was already concinced i wasnt making this flight. Slowly as everyone boarded my priority went up until I was next on the list as the airline was waiting for a lady named Kathryn. They must have made a dozen announcements, double checked the cabin, and finally as they were about to close the door they let me in. It was a rush. Got situated in a window seat with a stellar view of the right wing :-/ I was still able to catch a quick glimpse of NYC on take off. Flight was really long almost 7 hours. Again hard to sleep. Ive been practicing the Da Vinci sleep schedule: 20 minutes of sleep every 2 or so hours. Very boring flight, I need more iPhone games, angry birds just isn't cutting it. We landed safely to a pretty night view of the city and bay area. I went down to baggage claim to talk to people about places to stay and how to get around the city. Got some good advice about the BART system and some cool places to check out. I got a message from my buddy Jay, who lives out here, said he will be arriving to SF also. So I am waiting now for his arrival to see what we can figure out.
Today has been a very interesting day. Over 16 hours of travel time, over 3,800 sky miles and 4 airports. Pretty wiped out but it's only 8:30 and something tells me today's not over... Next flight tomorrow SF to Tokyo at 12pm, so stay tuned - the adventure has just begun :)

Counting down the hours...

Less than 16 hours before my first flight. I am glad that I was able to hang out with a lot of my friends the past few days. New years and the past couple nights have been a lot of fun.

I am having waves of anxiety about going. I am really excited but still pretty nervous. I don't think it will really hit me until I land in Tokyo and I can't read or understand anything. The biggest thing I am really concerned with now is making my flights and getting to my final destination. I have less than an hour to make my connection in ATL. Also my flight from Tokyo to Bangkok will arrive at midnight, and finding my way to the hostel would be a challenge. I'm going to get the flight changed to the next day but I"ve heard it's cheapest to do it at the airport.

I spent this morning going down a combination of check lists from Argentina and other ideas that have popped in my head the past few weeks. I got everything laid out and (very) organized. Nothing is packed loose. Everything is put into quart size zip lock bags or compression sacks. It makes life so much easier, especially airports. I packed the zip locks based on category - bathroom (toothbrush, soap, etc), technology (chargers, batteries, cords etc)... you get the idea. I will post my full pack checklist.

I assembled everything, double checked my list and starting packing... I finished in less than 2 minutes and was left with the feeling... Is that it? I checked my list again and guessed I did a good job packing. I am fighting the temptation to pack more since I have soooo much room in my pack. I am taking more than I did to Argentina but my pack weighs less. Weighed out I'm only carrying 23 lbs! Argentina bag weighed about 26lbs. Anyway, I'm really excited, I"ll be able to carry on my bag and I'll have plenty of room to pick up stuff along the way. Having everything packed and ready to go is giving me a lot more peace of mind.

I have several other errands to do before the day is over - load up a prepaid debit card, get an international drivers license, and a number of other odds and ends.

I guess there's not much more to talk about until the flights... :)